A gentle paean to wanderlust, experience, and fulfilment.
In Cruz’s debut picture book, a restless garden gnome journeys to the big city.
Cora, a brown-haired, pigtailed gnome with fair skin, is bored with her life standing about in the garden. Though her parents dismiss her dream of going to the nearby city, Cora runs away and makes a life there selling apples. Cora wants to be part of the music she hears around town; her chance comes courtesy of real-life historical figure Johann Maelzel, who has just invented a device to help musicians keep the beat. Inspired by Cora’s relocation to the city, he names this device the metrognome. Cora finds work operating the metrognome for none other than Ludwig van Beethoven (“She was proud of the music she helped him make”). Cora makes her parents proud, and is happy for a while, but then her feet grow itchy again and she leaves the city in search of new horizons. Cruz tells Cora’s story in straightforward, non-rhyming text. The historical setting is well realized, and while the titular pun might not land for young readers, the ideas of chasing opportunities and immersing oneself in larger events shine through—though perhaps without sufficient cautionary sentiment to satisfy parents. Stoliar provides busy, faux hand-drawn, digital illustrations whose ingenuous renderings and time-faded colors capture an impression of early 19th-century city life with understated grace.
A gentle paean to wanderlust, experience, and fulfilment.Pub Date: March 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781960157980
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Bookfox Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A charming blend of whimsy and medieval heroism highlighting the triumph of brains over brawn.
A young owl achieves his grand ambition.
Owl, an adorably earnest and gallant little owlet, dreams of being a knight. He imagines himself defeating dragons and winning favor far and wide through his brave exploits. When a record number of knights go missing, Owl applies to Knight School and is surprisingly accepted. He is much smaller than the other knights-in-training, struggles to wield weapons, and has “a habit of nodding off during the day.” Nevertheless, he graduates and is assigned to the Knight Night Watch. While patrolling the castle walls one night, a hungry dragon shows up and Owl must use his wits to avoid meeting a terrible end. The result is both humorous and heartwarming, offering an affirmation of courage and clear thinking no matter one’s size…and demonstrating the power of a midnight snack. The story never directly addresses the question of the missing knights, but it is hinted that they became the dragon’s fodder, leaving readers to question Owl’s decision to befriend the beast. Humor is supplied by the characters’ facial expressions and accented by the fact that Owl is the only animal in his order of big, burly human knights. Denise’s accomplished digital illustrations—many of which are full bleeds—often use a warm sepia palette that evokes a feeling of antiquity, and some spreads feature a pleasing play of chiaroscuro that creates suspense and drama.
A charming blend of whimsy and medieval heroism highlighting the triumph of brains over brawn. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-31062-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2022
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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